Lights, Camera, Action
by NBrokenShacklesN
Summary: Piper returns to her fathers house after the giant war, and finds that he is retiring from showbiz, with one last movie. Only problem is... He wants her in this one. Jiper (don't like don't read) T for kissing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, this is a Jiper story set after the giant war, and in my version, everyone survives. So there. Leo got Calypso of her island and they've set up Leo and Calypso's garage. Hope you Like it guys, and If you want something with a little more Leo, try my other story Change through Flame. PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Disclaimer: I own no-one and nothing that you recognise.**

Lights, Camera, Action

Chapter 1: You want me to WHAT?

Piper stood at the front door of her dads' mansion. It had been over a year since she was last here. Back before she had found out she was a demi-god, when she had just been a little girl wishing that her dad would listen to her. She had grown up since then, war did that. They had won the war against Gaia, but many demi-gods, many of Piper's friends had died.

Now her she was, about to see her father again. She wished Jason could have been here. He was busy at camp Jupiter, establishing connections between the Greek and Roman camps. She had asked Leo to drop her off. Since the Giant war, Leo had thrown himself into inventing. He had made a friend for Buford, and a hundred other things. His most recent invention was a silent helicopter. When she said he had dropped her off, she meant it literally.

She fished a key out from her pocket, and unlocked the door. Walking in, she de-tangled herself from the parachute, and watched as Leo pulled it back up to the helicopter. She smiled, waved, and then shut the front door.

As she walked down the corridor, she noticed a load more cameras' than she remembered, it seemed that since the kidnap, when her dad had been tied to a stake by the giant Enceladus, he had beefed up the security. There were probably more security guards at the main gates as well. Piper absentmindedly wondered whether he dad was going to be in another film soon.

Piper ascended the grand staircase, and walked down the corridor to her room. She sat on the bed, and dumped her suitcase next to her. Child of Aphrodite or not, she was only graceful when she had to be. She started unpacking, and putting all her cloths away in her wardrobe. After she had put all her stuff away, she picked up the suitcase, and saw a bag and a note at the bottom.

She picked up the note; her curiosity peaked, and read it with some difficulty. Three words, definitely in her sister Lacy's writing, and sprayed with enough perfume to make her room stink for a year. She smiled, one thing she was never going to cure her sisters of, was their love of perfume.

Piper opened the perfumed bag to find drachmas. _Stay in touch, _said the note, well there was no way she wouldn't be.

Piper sighed, she wanted to stay at camp year round, like she had last year, but her dad hadn't seen her for ages. She was one of the lucky ones at camp who still had a mortal parent who loved her. Even if he wasn't around most of the time. Seeing everyone who didn't have mortal parents made her feel stupidly ungrateful. She had seen the look Leo had sent her when she said she wasn't sure whether she would be going home, even if he thought she hadn't. After that she would've felt guilty if she stayed.

She stowed her suitcase in the bottom of her wardrobe, and made her way downstairs. She was wearing something other than ripped jeans for once, and though she had told Leo that it was just because she had grown that she needed to stop by a store on the way here, she didn't think that it had fooled him. It was irrational the way she felt she needed to dress up to see her dad. She had never done it before, and she didn't even do it when she talked to her mom, who was the lady of beauty!

She came to a stop in front of her dad's study. Well he called it a study, but he never used it to study anything, aside from the occasional script. Raising her hand, she knocked three times in quick succession, and then waited before knocking a fourth time. The murmur of voice on the other side stopped, and her dads' voice echoed "come in Pipes."

Piper stepped through the doorway, and came to a halt. "Hey dad, are you busy?" Looking round the room, she saw her dad talking to two other men. One of them she recognised as his agent, which meant that the other...

"Not at all Piper." He gestured to the two men, "this is my agent Tony Martina, I'm sure you've met him before..." The agent gave a cold smile, and Piper smiled back, even if it felt rather forced. If she recalled correctly, the last time they had met she had been eight years old and had kicked him in the shin for 'taking away her daddy again'. They had both mutually hated each other since.

"...And this is Sebastian Armóur, he's a producer who will be directing my last film."

Pipers nodded along, until the last sentence registered. "Last film?"

Tristan Mclean grinned at his daughters questioning look, "Well maybe not last, but defiantly last for a while. I'm taking a break from showbiz."

"Really, that's great!" Piper couldn't help her large grin. If her dad was taking a break from showbiz, then she might actually get to spend some time with him. She hadn't ever spent more than a day with her dad, and only ever once that she could remember that didn't end with an argument and her being sent to another boarding school.

"So I was wondering, as this is my last film, if you would..." Piper felt dread growing in her stomach.

"If I would what?"

"If you would be in it to."

Piper looked at him in shock; that had been completely unexpected. Her shock was quickly being replaced by anger. Who did he think he was? He had ignored her all her life, and now she was old enough to be of use, he wanted her to be in a film with him? She was almost ready to storm out and call Leo to take her back to camp!

"You want me to be in a film, with you?" The venom in Pipers voice seemed to make the temperature of the room drop, and the only reason that she hadn't left the room was the smug look on her dads' agents' face.

Pipers' dad seemed to be slightly intimidated by her anger, but the producer didn't seem to be, maybe he was used to dealing with actresses who had temper tantrums. "It's a unique opportunity for the great Tristan McLean's last performance, to make it a family thing, and I'm sure that the audience will love it. Why this plot was practically written with you two in mind. You fit it perfectly!"

Piper could feel her respect for the producer rising. It was obvious that she was annoyed, but he wasn't backing down. That was the mark of a good producer. Uh, her ADHD was distracting her again.

She made a conscious effort to calm down; if he was trying then she would too. "Why would you want me in your film? I've never been an actress, and I might ruin the entire thing."

Her father seemed to have recovered from her little temper tantrum, and was back to normal. "You'll be fine Pipes, no, you'll be great. Please say yes!"

Piper glanced around the room again, the producer looked really hopeful; he must really want her to be in the film, and she felt that she had to prove that she wasn't the diva that her actions had just made her out to be. Here she was, one of the seven, survivor of the war, and victor of Gaia, and she was having a fit over being in a film with her dad. She felt ashamed of herself. It was the least she could do after not speaking to him in a year, and leaving him worried.

The thing that really made up her mind though, was the look on the face of her father's agent. He was looking at her like she was still the little girl who was mad at her father never being there. She would prove to him that she had grown up! No-one looked at Piper Mclean that way, (at least not if they wanted to remain free of Kapatrios.) And since she was sure that her dad wouldn't be very happy with her stabbing his agent, she would settle for proving him wrong.

Piper sighed, this was not what she had been expecting when she had returned home, but somehow she wasn't as surprised as she thought she should have been. "Fine, what's the plot about?"

Piper was once again staring aghast at her father and the producer. Her father's agent "call me Tony" had long since left, simpering that he was needed elsewhere. Had she mentioned she seriously disliked that creep? He reminded her of Octavian, though somehow worse.

"Let me get this straight. You want dad to be the great Greek leader, who is in the middle of defending his state, and way of life against the Roman invaders, and me to be his beautiful, helpless, little girl, who somehow falls in love with the Roman general, and thus persuades her father to give in, so she can marry him. No offence... Ok, offence; that's pathetic. Can't I at least be a warrior princess, who's mad because her dad won't let her fight, and sneaks out, meeting the young Roman general that way? I dislike acting helpless."

The producer actually looked interested in that rendition, but then Pipers' dad had to throw a spanner in the works (she was defiantly spending too much time with the Hephaestus kids; she was starting to talk like them!)

"But Pipes, you'd have to learn how to stage fight, and that could take quite a while."

"Piper sighed; she hadn't wanted to bring this up, but... "Dad, I already know how to fight with a sword... And a knife... And a spear. I'm also not too bad with a flaming hammer. Yeah, don't ask. But point is, you wouldn't have to teach me."

If she had been in another situation, she would have laughed at the dumbfounded look on her dads' face, but right now, she was desperately hoping that he wouldn't demand to know who trained her.

"Pipes, who taught you?"

But then again, when had her luck ever been that good? "A friend from the summer camp I went to." And my boyfriend, she added mentally, but she didn't think her dad was quite ready to hear about Jason yet. He was still coming to grips with how much she had changed. She really didn't need to add in a boyfriend too. Though she was sure that Leo would find it funny to see her fathers' reaction to Jason, she wouldn't. That was a problem for another day.

He gave her a look that said, we will be talking about this later, but fortunately he left it alone, the producer jumped in when the silence began to stretch, "Well, that's sorted then, a warrior princess, trapped in by her overbearing father, who never spends time with her anyway..."

"Perfect" smiled Piper, glancing at her dad. "Sounds just like our life story."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So, I seriously have no idea how showbiz works, so, this chapter might be a little unfactual. The way I see it, the producer is so desperate to have Piper and her dad in his film, that he's ready to have their input. Does that make sense? **

**Sorry, she probably won't tell him the truth, did you see how that turned out in TLH? **

**Please enjoy the second chapter guys! **

Chapter 2: Dad, meet boyfriend.

The three had moved to sit down on the official couches that lined one corner of the room, and were now onto the topic of other actors. Piper knew that she would have to make out with whoever played the Roman general, so was understandably worried at who it would be. As the two others were still discussing the actor who would be playing the late queen (and had less than five minutes of screen time); she felt she was justified in asking about it.

"So, Mr Armóur..."

"Call me Sebastian, we are going to be working together, I hope we can be on a first name basis. Unless you would like me to call you miss Mclean?"

Piper crinkled her nose, which Leo said made her look constipated, but that was Leo. (Jason thought it was cute.) "Please Sebastian, call me Piper, but what I was trying to say was, have you decided on who will be the Roman general?"

Sebastian looked a little uncertain on that. "I would like to be able to tell you I had, but no-one I usually cast or have worked with seem to fit the role. I was toying with the idea of having an audition, and let up and coming actors have a chance of auditioning for that role. That way I could fill some of the other, minor roles as well. What would your opinion on that be?"

Piper smiled, she was grateful that her opinion was being asked, maybe it was her ADHD, but she disliked being ordered about like she didn't have a choice. That was why she would never make a good Roman. She wasn't sure if auditions were better, but maybe this way she could have an input on who was picked.

"Sure, I think that's a great idea, and it would be good for a new actor to be in a film with the Tristan Mclean. It's great that you're giving them a chance. Would I be allowed to come? To present myself as the Greek princess. I wouldn't feel right not doing an audition or anything."

Sebastian looked delighted at her agreement, and he dad seemed to be happy as well. "I'm so glad you're getting in to this Pipes, it'll be great to act with you. But are you sure that you can pull of the weapons?"

Piper glanced around the room, trying not to role her eyes. It's not like her dad knew she had been one of the main fighters in a war that could have destroyed the world. Her eyes fell on the two swords on the wall, Greek style, a memoir of when her father had acted the part of the King of Sparta. She felt a smile growing on her face. Her dad had been trained for months to swing one of them like an expert...

"How about we spar?" Her dad's eyes whipped around to the swords on the wall.

"Pipes, I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."

"Come _on_ dad. Plus it will give Sebastian an idea of what I can do. Please!"

Tristan reluctantly stood up from the couch, and detached the swords from the wall, handing one to Piper. He glanced at Piper's gleeful face, and Sebastian's expectant one. Throwing the hand that didn't have a sword in, into the air he muttered, "Fine, but we are doing this in a bigger room, I don't want to break anything. How about we take it to the entrance hall."

Piper watched the two men leave the room, Sebastian practically skipping, and smiled, boy was her dad going to be surprised.

Twenty minutes later, the three were back in Tristan's office, and Sebastian was almost buzzing. "This is wonderful, you're brilliant at swordplay. Oh I can't wait. I'm terribly sorry to go, but I simply must rewrite the script before I spontaneously combust. Oh this is wonderful!" And with a shaking of hands he left the room, almost giggling.

Piper looked at her father guiltily. "I think I broke him."

"Pipes, I think you broke _me_"

Piper grinned; it had been too long since she had been able to talk to her dad like this. She edged toward the door. "Hey, so I have to call Jason, I'll see you later then..."

"Not so fast Princess, I still need an explanation on who taught you to fight that well. And while we're at it you can explain who Jason is."

Well schist.

"So, you're telling me, that during the year you were at this camp, you managed to learn how to fight like a pro, helped your friend get engaged to her long time boyfriend, got a boyfriend yourself, and helped your friend build a silent helicopter."

"Yeah, pretty much. But I also helped Leo build a bunch of other stuff, and Jason took me flying in Leo's helicopter. Leo wanted to build a warship, but the Idea was vetoed by the camp manager. Seemed to think it might get him in trouble with the police." Piper thought she had blown her dad's brains enough. He really didn't need to know about the actual existence of the Argo two.

Tristan looked completely flabbergasted, and Piper honestly couldn't blame him, it was a lot to take in. She came home after about 18 months and said the equivalent of "Hey dad, I'm like a complete new person now, and I have a boyfriend, who's awesome. Just thought you might wanna know. See ya; I'm just off skydiving over the Rockies!" Ok. Maybe not the last bit.

"You said you were going to call said boyfriend?"

"Yeah..."

"Good, if you don't mind, and even if you do, I will be having a few words with him."

"Dad"

"Pipes, I'm your father, and he's your first boyfriend, I have rights to threaten him."

"Uggg, Fine!"

Piper fished out the phone from one of her pockets, and clicked Jason's number. Technically, no half-bloods were supposed to have mobile phones, but those other inventions of Leo had included mobile phones that didn't send up signals to monsters. He had of course called them Leo-phones. Every demi-god that trusted Leo had one. More so Greeks than Romans, they never really got over the little firing on New Rome that the possessed Leo had done. Thought they didn't attack him on sight anymore. Leo figured that was as close to friends that the majority of Romans would ever be with him.

Another thing Piper had to put up with was the programmed tunes that Leo had put in. As her phone, as well as Jason's and Leo's had been the first three ever made, Leo had decided to put in the ringtone for each of the seven, and Chiron. The others of the seven also got this luxury. So now she had to wait through the superman theme song. Thanks Leo.

Eventually Jason picked up the call, and Piper gave a sigh of relief.

"_Hey Jason, you busy?"_

"_Never too busy for you."_

"_Aww, no but seriously, I just told my dad I had a boyfriend, and he wants to talk to you."_

"_Should I be scared?" _Piper glanced at her dad's face, which did seem to be somewhat stern.

"_He can't kill you over the phone, but be sure not to mention your location; I don't want him sending snipers after you." _Piper hoped that Jason would understand that she didn't want her dad knowing any half-blood stuff. That didn't turn out too well last time, and she hoped that Jason would remember that.

"_I'll be careful, and won't tell him anything, you know, half- bloodie. Wow, that didn't quite come out right."_

"_Ok, I'm passing you over now, good luck."_

Piper carefully passed her phone onto her dad, and carefully retreated, at her dad's shooing hands. She could eavesdrop, but it would be much easier to get the entire conversation from Jason later.

It seemed like a lifetime before she heard the phone beep, and her dad's voice say "You can come back in Pipes."

She entered slightly apprehensively, but her nervousness was halted by the smile on her dad's face. "I will have to meet him before I come to a judgement, but he seems alright, and you seem to really like him. The way you smile when you talk about him. Well. I don't want to see you get your heart broken Pipes. So be careful yeah?"

"Ok dad, I'm not going to get my heart broken, and even if he tries it, which he won't. You saw the way I can handle a sword..."

Her dad laughed, and gave her a hug, then withdrew with a twinkle in his eye, I'll just go and see if Mellie has arranged the next meeting with Sebastian. I'm sure you and Jason can have a talk while I'm gone..."

Piper grabbed the nearest item on the desk, and threw it at him. The paperweight left a dent in the door, as it closed behind him, and his voice filtered through the closed door. "Careful Princess, I can't be in the film If you knock my head off."

**AN: So guys, please review, and tell me what you think of this chapter. Next chapter is the auditions!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey guys, I'm back! So, I got a few reviews, and guest, I'm sorry, Piper didn't have any previous boyfriends, so Jason unfortunately can't get in a fight with one. However, there will be some guys that he can beat up for flirting with his girl. **

** I got one of the longest reviews I have ever had, Thank you Lemon Dropz, and too answer your queries, there will be bonding with Piper/ Tristan, and also Tristan/Jason, though not so much. I wasn't planning on having Tristan meet the seven, but it's such an awesome idea, I shall now have to do so. Leo first I think... (after Jason of course). They (Jason/Piper) are not going to break up, and I think that it would just be stupid if they did. No mortal problems can break up those two. The only way they would ever be split up is death, then they'd meet in Elysium.**

** Read on and you will see how Jason will be involved...**

Chapter 1: Who will be Prince Charming?

Piper was nervous. She wasn't going to call it scared, scared was reserved for monsters. Nothing really in the mortal world scared her any longer. Even if it was auditions for the guy she would have to kiss. Though she was an actor's daughter she had never really been involved in any of it, so she really didn't know what to expect.

She was sitting on a panel of judges in a white room, with Sebastian, her father, and a few other main characters. Sebastian was big on communication and co-operation. He wanted to involve his cast in the decisions he made, and he wanted a cast that could work together well. So far, Piper had met the actor who was going to play her father's right hand man, the actress who was going to play her mom, and some of the other actors. She had gotten on with all of them well enough, but she got the feeling they didn't know what to make of her. That was alright by Piper, she would be a bit worried too, if she was an actress and she was told to work with a famous actresses only daughter, who first film this was. She was glad that they were at least giving her a chance.

She had already seen about three auditions for the general, and she didn't want to be mean, but she wasn't very impressed with any of them. They were all so, average. She got the feeling that was what Sebastian was thinking as well. They would all be great for minor roles, but not as a main character.

What she was worried about though, was not the lack of talent so far, but the text message she had received from Jason earlier that day, just one word. "Surprise!" She didn't understand what he was talking about, and she was obsessing over it. Jason hadn't texted her in a while, preferring calls, and he had been a little quieter since she had told him about how she was going to be acting in one of her dad's films.

She had asked him if he was bothered by it, but he had said he wasn't, and as a charm speaker, she could tell when someone was lying. He just said he was thinking about something, and that she didn't need to worry. Then he had gone back to talking normally, so she had figured it wasn't something big. Now she wasn't so sure.

She brought her attention back to the auditions, and heard Sebastian say "Next."

All three of the previous budding actors have walked in and introduced themselves first, then proceeded to get into character to perform their audition piece; she could tell that this next person would be different.

She heard him before she saw him, marching echoing down the corridor, an even step, Left, right, left, right. Then the door opened and Piper barely held in a gasp, _now_ she understood the text message.

The marching continued till the blond haired soldier came to a halt in the dead centre of the room, and, crossing an arm over his chest, bent at the waist, straightened, and spoke. "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, centurion of the fifth cohort, member of the twelfth legion, and child of Rome. Ave."

Piper leant slightly forward, and looked across at the others, who all looked suitably impressed, though they didn't let it show too much on their faces, she could see it in their eyes. She couldn't help feeling pride in her boyfriend. He sure knew how to make an entrance. She saw Sebastian lean forward slightly, "Ave, Jason, are you prepared for this audition?"

"A centurion should be prepared for all eventualities, a disorganised leader results in unnecessary loss of life. I endeavour to be a good leader before Olympus and the senate of Rome. I am always prepared."

Piper gave a sad smile, and then wiped her face clean before anyone noticed. Jason had told her of the march on the titan's palace, and how, because he and Reyna had been organised, they only lost 20 demigods. But twenty of them had been Jason friends. She could see that he too was remembering that as he replied. That sadness in his eyes, that appeared every time he talked about his dead friends.

Sebastian looked even more excited now, and he lent back in his seat. "Then fire away centurion."

Jason swirled on his heal, and she could just picture a cloak swirling around him, he turned to the four men standing at the back. They were trained actors, whom Sebastian has organised to act as soldiers, so that they could see how each candidate directed them. Sebastian had wanted to see how each actor would respond to an aspect of insubordination on the part of their soldiers. Each of the four had been instructed to commit a breach of protocol, and wait for the potential centurion to react, for one of the previous actors, only one had acted up, but for another all four had. Piper wondered how many would act up for Jason.

Jason's eyes gleamed as he looked at them; Piper figured it had been too long since he had been able to go all out on a bunch of newbie's. He took in their slouching against the wall, and a frown appeared on his face. He marched to and fro in front of them, "You are men of Rome's army. The enforcers of the great empire. You should shelter Rome's allies and strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. I should look at you and see straight backed, proud member's of this legion." Jason's voice lowered dangerously, "But that is not what I see."

"I see four lily-livered boys, who are _pretending_ to be men. I see four cowards who think they can do what they want because their wear Rome's armour. I see four pathetic layabouts who would turn and run at the first sign of trouble. It is my job to turn you from that. To turn you into soldiers of Rome who will die for their country. Who will fight to their last breath, and not run, should it be just them agaist a thousand barbarians." Jason looked up and down the now straight soldiers in a scathing way. "And I see I have my job cut out for me."

Piper glanced sideways at Sebastian, who was looking at Jason like he'd never seen anything like him. He looked like his eyes were about to pop out his head. He came back to himself as Jason finished, and tapped the table discreetly, the signal for the first soldier to act up.

The soldier on the far left broke rank. "You can't talk to me like that, my father is..."

Jason didn't even let him finish. "Your father could be Caesar and still I would not care." His eyes glinted dangerously. "Here my word is law, you are in my legion, and you will obey me. I can talk to you how I will. I own you. For the next ten years, or till your death, you are part of my legion. You will obey my every word, or you will be executed for treason. Do you understand?"

The actor gulped slightly and stepped back into line, "Yes centurion, I understand."

"I am glad."

Sebastian looked almost ready to explode with happiness; he tapped again, the signal for the second actor to misbehave. The one on the far right snickered at the telling of that his fellow soldier had just given. Jason whirled round, his eyes sparking. "Do share what you found so _amusing_."

The soldier obviously didn't head the implied warning, "Nothing centurion, except the look on his face."

"Oh?" Jason's voice was dangerously quiet, and Piper felt chills run down her back. "There are many things I dislike in this world. But few I hate. One of those I hate is a coward. Another is a soldier who ridicules his compatriots. You fall into two of those categories. I suggest you forget your hilarity, or I will make a mockery of you in front of the entire legion. We will see who is laughing then."

Sebastian signalled for the actors to stop, and stood up from his seat, "Jason, I think we have seen all we need to, please wait outside with the others while we decide on who would fit the part. If you do not get the part of Centurion Marcus, you will likely get a smaller part as one of his soldiers."

Jason approached the front of the room, and once more bowed with his arm across his chest, "Ave", and then left the room. His footsteps echoing behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, I'm sorry that I haven't updated this story in so long. It's not abandoned I promise. I was concentrating on Fire Triangle, and then when I was going to update, my brother needed the laptop for coursework, which I have to concede, is perhaps slightly more important than this story. **

**I'm so glad you all liked Jason's entrance, and in this chapter you will have Tristan's reaction to the budding actor being 'that Jason'. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, then I don't own it. **

** And with no further ado... **

Chapter 4: Yeah, that Jason.

Piper was still in shock. She had no clue that Jason could act. Especially not like that! Thought she had a feeling that he acted so well because it wasn't acting. He actually was a Roman general, not that he was going to be telling anyone that.

Glancing across the room, she noticed Sebastian beckon her over, his face alight with a broad grin. He looked as though he had just won the lottery. So did some of the other actors. She heard the actor who was going to play her dad's army leader, and second in command, whispering to the actress beside him, "That boy has talent!"

She felt like turning around and singing that "that boy" was her boyfriend. Though she suspected that thought came from Aphrodite, seemed like something her mom would giggle over. She gave a little frown and wiped the thought from her mind. Sure she was cool with Aphrodite being her mom, but that didn't mean she was going to turn into a giggling weakling!

By the time she had finished that thought, she was standing in front of Sebastian, and the actors around him had gone quiet. She tried not to gulp as they all looked at her. Sebastian spoke, "Now, I know we were all impressed with Mr Grace, but I would like your input Piper. Do you have any problems with him? Now is the time to speak up, because once we have cast him, he's here to stay."

Piper wasn't going to object to Jason at all, but as she opened her mouth to say so, she heard one of the actors by Sebastian whispering to another. "If she says she has a problem with kissing him, I swear I will chuck her out the window."

Piper couldn't help but laugh over the not so subtle comment. When you were in a silent room whispers carried pretty far. She glanced at the actor who would be playing her main guard; he didn't look apologetic at all, and merely smirked at her. He reminded her of a thirty year old Leo, or what Leo would probably be like in twelve years. She saw so much of Leo in him, that she immediately retorted the way she would had he been Leo.

"As my future prison warden has pointed out so kindly," here she sent a matching smirk at him, "I would be plain idiotic to object. Plus, Jason pretty fit." The actor who had spoke slung an arm around her shoulders, and spoke to Sebastian.

"I like this one," he poked her in the arm and grinned, "I'm keeping her".

Piper laughed again, and gave a full out grin, "Why sir, I don't even know your name!" She spun herself out from under his arms, and pretended to hide behind her father, who was grinning himself at the two's performance.

The man gave a faux gasp, and bowed to the ground, "Allow me to introduce myself Princess Piper, I am Lord Troy Richards, son of the noblest family of Richards. My father, Richard the four hundred and sixteenth, decided to name his son something different for a change."

Tristan stepped forward, and frowned at Troy. "What is your intention toward my daughter?" Piper couldn't help but gasp at that, her dad was joining in? This was probably the closest she and her father had acted in... Years. Acted of course, an appropriate pun for the situation.

"Nothing unseemly my lord, merely ask her hand."

Piper stepped around her dad and rejoined the conversation, "Oh, my Lord Troy, I am truly honoured, but my heart belongs to another..."

Their charade, which until now had just been accompanied by various snickers from the gathered actors and actresses, was interrupted by a hung gasp from the reporter in the corner. Piper frowned, then realised that she had just admitted she had a boyfriend. That would be like a goldmine to the press, who had been clamouring for as much information as they could find on Tristan's mysterious trouble maker of a daughter.

Troy had turned to her in surprise, breaking the act himself. "You have a boyfriend."

"Yep" Piper really should have recognised the gleam in Troy's eyes.

"What's his name?"

"Not telling." Troy frowned at that, and turned to Tristan, throwing his arm over her dad's shoulders, as he grinned.

"Hey Trissy-dear, what's the name of your daughter's boyfriend?"

Tristan McLean gave an esperated sigh, "if you would remove your arm..." Troy eagerly moved away, and looked at Tristan.

"Well..."

"Still not telling."

Troy frowned and turned back to Piper, a gleam in his eye. "I will find out missy, and I will make sure I manage to prank him with shaving cream on Jello."

"He won't fall for it!"

"He will fall for it; everyone falls for it the first time."

"Yes, but it wouldn't be the first time." Piper smiled, remembering the time on the Argo two, when Leo had managed to get everyone with that prank, including himself so that he wouldn't be a suspect. His maniacal laugh had given him away though, and he found his shower would only run ice cold water till he grovelled to Percy to change it back.

Troy's response was cut off by Sebastian, as he cleared his throat, and gave the two of them a pointed look. "While I'm sure we're all incredibly excited at the prospect of Piper's absent boyfriend," he glanced at the reporter, who had the good sense to try look abashed, but wasn't really managing it. "But we have some auditionees outside who are waiting for our decision. I believe it was unanimously Jason, am I correct?"

The other actors and actresses gave a variety of agreements, with Troy's "Yep!" being the loudest.

"Ok, then, and I will be offering the others minor roles in the army, yes?" Another round of agreements ensued. Sebastian nodded, and asked Tracy, who was going to be acting as Piper's servant, if she would be willing to show the four in.

They first three seemed somewhat nervous, and entered slowly, with Jason's blank face behind them, his eyes meeting with Pipers, and lighting up. She could almost see lightning bolts in them. She smiled at him, before glancing at the reporter in horror, she didn't want the media to actually realise she knew Jason. If they tried to dig up his past, well it would end badly, was an understatement.

She let out the breath she had been holding when she realised that the reporter and cameraman were still trained on the four who had just entered. Jason seemed to realise that she wanted him to keep their relationship secret. He looked a little hurt, and she knew she would have to explain later.

The three that hadn't got the role took it reasonably ok, though one of them set a jealous glare at Jason back, making Piper frown. Jason looked a little shocked too, and Piper knew that it was his first time acting, and he probably hadn't expected to win.

It was almost an hour later that Piper got a chance to get Jason to himself, and Troy had cleared toe corner, declaring that the Centurion Marcus and his bride to be Princess Adonia needed some private time to get acquainted, and Piper was grateful. She didn't appreciate the innuendo he had added on the end of that statement, but she did appreciate the space.

"Jason, I want to keep us being together a secret. I'm not ashamed of you or anything, and I know you well enough that you will have either used the mist, or Leo's hacking skills to create a back-story for why you haven't been heard of since you were two, but..."

"Piper, I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah, the media haven't had anything on the mysterious daughter of Tristan McLean. If it gets out that we're dating, they're going to try to dig things up about the both of us. We don't want that happening anymore than it needs to."

Piper smiled at Jason, resisting the urge to reach up and kiss him, and thanked her mom mentally that she got such an awesome boyfriend. The sweet voice in her head that rang with giggles as it replied "_You're welcome honey!"_ almost made her physically cringe.

Jason grinned at her face, "I know, I know, I'm awesome." Piper grinned and lightly slapped him around the head.

"Careful Jason, if your head gets any bigger it won't fit in your costumes helmet."

Piper and Jason stood up, and headed for the doors, intending to sneak outside for a brief moment. They were blocked by the large body of Tristan McLean. "Where are you two going?"

"Nowhere."  
"Outside."

"Ummm" The two looked at each other, then back at Tristan. Who stared at them silently until Piper began to fiddle, blaming her ADHD for her impatience.

"Jason Grace." Jason straitened, and looked at Tristan directly, instead of the floor.

"Yes sir."

"That Jason?"

"Yes sir."

Tristan took a long look at Jason before claiming loudly, "You could be worse," ignoring Piper's embarrassed cry of "Dad!"

Tristan leaned forward, and whispered menacingly into Jason's face, "If you hurt her, I will ruin you. Fame can be remarkably useful sometimes." Jason was spared the reply by a crash in the parking lot outside, and a familiar voice exclaiming, "Schist!"

Piper was at the window before she registered moving, there was a half crashed helicopter outside, and a familiar Latina Santa's elf clambering from the wreck. Piper shared a glance with Jason, while they decided who would pretend they didn't know Leo. They came to an agreement and Piper raised her voice to yell out the window.

"Leo! What in the name of What, did you just do?!"

Leo jumped at the voice and looked up at Piper's voice the floor above, "Oh, hey there Beauty Queen."

**Hope you like it folks, and please send a oh-so-lovely review winging merrily in my direction. BYE NOW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**An: Disclaimer: Anything you recognise is not owned by me. **

**With no further ado... **

Chapter 5: Meet my insane best friend.

Leo was good at pretending to ignore Jason. Piper had raced down the stairs and out to the, now destroyed, car park, before anyone else did, to warn Leo that he wasn't allowed to show any recognition to Jason. They were trying to avoid his past being researched.

In fact, Leo came up with an alternate idea. The press wanted info on Piper McLean's past? Present them her best friend. Leo didn't actually mind his past being researched- no matter how messed up it was. In fact he had said before, back on the Argo 2, when everyone had been getting to know everyone else; he wished someone would try to dig up his past. Wished them luck. The way Leo saw it, past was past, and he'd moved on.

This way, he whispered in Piper's ear as they stood around the ruin of Leo's second helicopter, they would be so focused on the tragic back-story of Piper McLean's best friend, they would forget to research Jason too much. Piper had hugged him for that. Leo was an awesome best friend!

But the crashed helicopter was sure to grab attention, and Piper was more concerned about what they were going to tell the police who would invariably turn up. Even Leo looked slightly uncomfortable about it. Sure he had a licence for the helicopter- at least, a faked one. But to be frank, it was a very good fake. The problem was, the licence was for flying a helicopter, not owning one. Piper figured the police weren't likely to believe that Leo had made the helicopter, not stolen it. After all, what sixteen year old could possibly build a helicopter from scratch?

So Leo spent the time before the police showed up gathering the scattered parts of his broken air transport, and piling them right next to the ex-helicopter. Piper meanwhile was figuring how much trouble she'd be in if she charm-spoke the police. Her mom had told her not to use it on mortals now she could control it; a rare moment when Aphrodite was being a responsible parent. If it was to help Leo out it wasn't too bad right?

Eventually the other occupants of the audition panel had made it to the car-park, and were all looking for how she knew Leo. The reporter was looking like all her Christmas's had come at once, and was scribbling stuff on her notepad while the cameraman spun the camera over the ex-helicopter, and the Latina Santa's elf next to it. The minute the reporter saw Piper, she was forging in her direction. Piper resisted the urge to flee, and caught Jason's eye.

He made his way over, and arrived at the same time as the reporter, thankfully speaking first. "Wow Piper, when I agreed to act with you, you might have mentioned that your best friend is insane."

"He's not insane, he's just an inventor. He figured that Helicopters should be silent so built his own silent helicopter- from scratch."

The reporter was again franticly taking notes. Piper continued; no harm in emphasizing Leo's talent after all. "...He has perfected his silent helicopter though, after all, he flew me home in it- so I don't really know what he attempter with this one to make it crash. In fact- thinking about his track record... I'm not sure I want to know."

"Your faith in me is outstanding beauty queen." Piper yelped and jumped up, Leo had not been there a second ago.

She turned around and whacked him on the arm, lightly, "Don't do that Valdez; you'll scare someone to death someday."

"Well, at least it would be an interesting way to die. Imagine the gravestone. Mr Smith died of fright, at the hand of Leo Valdez."

"Lovely," Piper glanced at him a smirk on her face, "Until of course someone read the gravestone, and you get a life sentence for murder..."

"Wet blanket."

"Evil scientist."

Leo gave a grin at that, turning to the reporter, "You see what I have to deal with," he gave a fake sob, "So much for being my best friend, sniff."

Jason looked at Leo in bewilderment. "Did you just say, sniff."

"If I had sniffed Piper would have just handed me a tissue. I was trying to make my point without my best friend acting like a right twerp."

"Only twerp I see here is you."

"Piper, I'm hurt. Truly."

The reporter seemed to have gathered enough information from observing and now began to ask questions. "I hope you don't mind, Miss McLean, but could I ask how long you've known Mr Valdez?"

"One and a half years, and in that time the moron somehow managed to become my best friend. I have no idea why."

"...And Mr Valdez..."

"Leo. Mr Valdez makes me sound..." Leo gave a faux shudder and a look of horror. "...Mature!"

"Leo then. What were you trying to do with this helicopter?"

Leo got that look in his eye, the one he always got when someone was asking about his work, and he began to explain his helicopter. "I had already invented a silent helicopter, which is kept safe in the... At home. I was trying for a helicopter that didn't produce wind as it took off. I have been told that's impossible, due to the high spinning of the blades required to make the helicopter take off. But I dislike the word impossible. In fact, I take it as a challenge."

The reporter seemed intrigued by Leo's idea, and was peering at the helicopter wreck with growing interest. Jason re-entered the conversation, and Piper could see him trying not to act to friendly with Leo. He couldn't give an indication that he knew Leo after all. "So... why did it crash? Ig it got in the air, why didn't it stay there?"

"Well, in order to make the reduced wind, I narrowed the blades on the top, which was a good idea... Right up until they snapped 30 metres up. It's a good job I was planning on landing anyway, to surprise Piper, else the fall would likely have killed me."

Piper gasped. After surviving Gaia, there was no way that a fall could kill Leo Valdez. But if it had... She shuddered. She would not lose her best friend like that; she'd march to the underworld, and drag his soul back. Kicking and Screaming.

"Pipes? Are you OK? You're shivering."

Piper turned towards Leo's worried face and frowned, hating that her voice came out shaky. Why? Nothing happened- he didn't die, after so many close calls in the war, why would this one be different? "It was that close. I mean... You could've..."

"I didn't, and I won't Pipes. It would take more than a fall to off me."

Piper hugged him. With the war over she had kidded herself into thinking they'd all be fine. No-one would die now- there was no war to die in. She had forgotten that people die without war. One monster that got lucky, one car going too fast. One helicopter flying too high... Her friends could die outside of war too.

She glanced over at Jason, who looked like he wanted to comfort her, but was stopping himself from kissing her. They were not supposed to know each other, after all. Piper released Leo and stepped back, mindful of his small smile. "It's ok, right."

"Yeah." Piper wiped away the tears that she didn't know had been rolling down her cheeks. The moment was broken by a shadow over them, and a ladder and ropes dropping from the silent helicopter. A voice rang from it.

"Wrap the ropes around your hunk of junk, and we'll lug it home little brother."

"Nyssa!"

"Yeah yeah, you didn't think we'd let you try that thing on your own? Hate to say it... I told you it wouldn't work."

Leo grumbled as he lugged the rope over to his ex-helicopter, and tied it around it with multiple knots. "Ok, pull it up." The rope shortened, and the junk hung in mid-air, suspended under the sleek orange helicopter, with an anvil painted on the side. A tribute to the father of the inventor. Leo jumped for the ladder and began to climb as Nyssa flew off. "See you around Beauty Queen."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Sorry this took so long guys, I love you really and will try not to leave it so long again. Please forgive me and enjoy this chapter. Review! Pweese ;( **

Chapter 6: A Conversation with Dear Old Mom

Piper had been dreading the day ever since Sebastian had informed the cast about it. In fact the only upsides she could see were that she would sort of be spending time with her dad- which she had been doing a lot of lately. She thought she had spent longer with her Dad in the three weeks since the auditions than she had spent with him in the three years before hand; and Jason would be there.

The fact that Jason would be there had caused Piper a lot of worry. Though they had been betting on the media being more interested in Piper Mclean joining in the film with her father- a fact Sebastian had managed to hide from the media so far (the reporter at the auditions had only been informed of the fact it was to be Tristan McLean's last movie (at least for now). As far as she had known Piper was only there to spend time with her Dad.

However, because Jason had got the main part- now there would be a lot of scrutiny, and people trying to dig up his past. Leo had offered to make a false paper trail and even suggested fake witnesses. In the end however this was decided to be inviting trouble, and though Hazel could help by manipulating the mist so everyone believed the trail- Piper thought it would be too hard on Jason to have to constantly remember false information.

In the end Chiron suggested they stick as close as possible to the truth. Jason and his older sister Thalia were brought up by their alcoholic mother after their father left her. Eventually the pressure got too much for her (and here the story departed from fact) and she pleaded for Jason's father and his new wife to take Jason in. Having done this while Jason was four and Thalia away at school, when Thalia returned she screamed at their mother and ran off. She hadn't been heard of since. Jason had grown up with a distant father, and a stepmother who made no secret of the fact she wanted him nowhere near her. As soon as he reached sixteen he left home, and found out his passion for acting, and here he was.

This story was as close to the truth as could be, and surprisingly enough, if it came under scrutinisation, Hera had agreed to play the evil stepmother and back it up. Jason was extremely grateful to her, although Annabeth (her dislike of Here widely known) simply said it was only because she could get away with shouting at a son of Zeus in public and on T.V. without Zeus being able to protest.

Anyway, now was the day of the press conference, and Piper was nervous. Being a daughter of Aphrodite she was blessed with almost perfect fashion sence, so she could advise her dad and Jason what to wear, and get them looking perfect- but when it came to herself...

She was stood in front of her walk in wardrobe, and she came to the horrifying truth. All her outfits were old! And no she wasn't being a shallow diva, they were literally old. She hadn't lived here in almost two years and had grown a lot while she was away- none of these outfits would fit her, let alone look good!

Piper turned at once to the drachmas on her bedside table. Dragging herself into the on suite bathroom, she turned the shower on and threw in into the mist. "O Fleecy do me a solid; show me the Aphrodite cabin at camp half blood!" Piper waited as the image came in clearer, and saw only one of her siblings was in the cabin. "Mitchell".

Mitchell turned and grinned at her through the mist. "Piper, why are you still in pyjamas? Isn't the press conference today?" Piper smiled at him, and then it dropped.

"Please Mitchell, call a cabin meeting. I don't have anything to wear. Seriously, all my clothes are too small I haven't been here in two years, and the clothes I bought are not suitable for a press conference." Piper couldn't help but feel a small amount of guilt when she saw the terribly panicked look now on her brothers' face; he looked a lot more scared than she did.

"Wait there Piper, I'll assemble the cabin."

Before too long the mist was full of all her siblings' faces, and she swung open the bathroom door so they could see the clothes on the bed. "That's it?" Drew's voice echoed through the mist. "Honey, you have no chance. Sorry sweetie, you're gonna flunk this conference." Piper might have believed she was sorry if she couldn't see the smug grin on her sister's face. Somehow she didn't think Drew meant the apology.

Lacy frowned, and swatted Drew in the arm, "Piper needs fashion aid, and it's out duty as children of Aphrodite to help her."

Joseph, one of her newer siblings turned to her and said. "Is the conference casual dress or smart?"

Piper smiled at him, glad someone was being helpful. "Casual smart, so not ripped jeans, but not Tux or dresses." She turned to look at her bed, covered it t-shirts and various ripped jeans. "I'm so screwed..."

Piper heard a giggle from behind her and turned in confusion. That hadn't come though the iris message, but from the corner of the room, she felt a wave of posh, but still beautiful perfume wash over her... "Mom?"

The iris message disappeared with a wave of her mom's hand and Aphrodite went to sit on the bed, her blond hair swirling in a nonexistent breeze, as she patted the bed beside her. Piper couldn't help but notice that her eyes were almost sky blue today; such a lot like Jason's...

She shook her head and went to sit by her mom, trying to shake of the enchanting effect of her mom's presence. Why did she have to look so much like the guy Piper liked again? She could swear that Aphrodite did it on purpose just to irritate whoever she was talking to.

"Mom? Why are you here?" Piper cautiously made her way over to sit beside her mom.

"Oh sweetie, I know I'm not supposed to see you unless there's some sort of emergency- but really, this is an emergency, off to your fist press conference and nothing to wear. First impressions are incredibly important in the world of filming darling." Aphrodite leapt of the bed, in an incredibly graceful manner, and pulled Piper up, swinging her around and pulling out various outfits from nowhere to hold up against her.

"And besides, how could I miss this occasion to dress my daughter- oh you're going to look wonderful!" Whilst she was talking she threw three of the outfits onto the bed and spun Piper around to look at them. "Which one?"

Piper looked at the three- completely different designs for all of them. A summer dress, with a matching pair of stilettos; a crop top and a denim skirt, with a lacy cardigan and long colourful socks with plain flats; and a pair of skinny jeans with a plain white top and a overlapping chequered shirt and a pair of sandals. They all looked pretty amazing outfits- but that was no surprise when they were picked by the lady of beauty herself. Piper reached forward, immediately discarding the dress, there was no way she was wearing a dress. Besides, as she explained to Aphrodite, "summer's almost over, and I wouldn't want them to think I've just pulled anything out of my wardrobe."

Ignoring Aphrodite's gasp and cry of "Oh, I should have thought of that" which would have been a screech- if the instigator wasn't Aphrodite, as she could never do anything as unladylike as screeching; Piper leant forward and compared the two last outfits, pulling out the bits she wanted. Skinny jeans, with sandals, and the chequered over shirt, but then she turned to her wardrobe and pulled out a camp half-blood shirt.

She turned to her mom, who was watching her with something akin to pride. "Could you make the writing disappear? I don't want to have to answer any awkward questions."

Aphrodite clicked her fingers and Piper was in her chosen outfit, she looked to the mirror and smiled at what she saw- before realising that her mom had added make-up. "No make-up."

"Please..."

"No!"

The make-up vanished, other than the slight eyeliner and mascara making her eyes look bigger and enhancing the multicoloured aspect of them. Piper turned with a smile to her mom, who was wiping away a tear, then engulfing her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you sweetie, my little girls all grown up."

Then Aphrodite disappeared and the door opened. Her dad looked around "We're ready Pipes- wow, you look amazing Pipes. Jason won't be able to take his eyes off you."

"DAD!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, sorry about not uploading in ages! I got stuck on Merlin fanfics (reading not writing). I cant believe I missed the series when it was on T.V it's amazing. Press conference part 2 should be up soon...**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it.**

Chapter 7: A Press Conference

Piper was very glad she had grown up around showbiz. Sure she was sent off to loads of boarding schools as soon as it was socially acceptable- but she had grown up seeing how her dad handled it. It meant she wasn't immediately overwhelmed by the amount of reporters at the press conference, and she immediately felt sorry for Jason- but then, be used to be praetor of the twelfth legion, so he was used to being in the metaphorical spotlight. Only this time the spotlight was a little more literal.

There were only five of them at this press conference. Sebastian, because he was the director, obviously; her dad, because it was the great Tristan McLean's last film; Troy Richards, because he was one of the key actors, and he was available that day; herself, because she was one of the main characters and this was her first film, and she was the great Tristan McLean's daughter; and Jason, because he was another main character, and had, as Sebastian put it, extraordinary talent.

Before they went out and sat in the five seats in front of the sea of reporters and cameramen, Sebastian dragged her and Jason away from the other two. "Now listen guys, reporters and the media are vicious. That's a fact, and you two are fresh meat. Particularly you Jason, as people have already started to unravel the mystery that is Tristan McLean's so called secret daughter. Be careful in what you tell them- don't even hint at anything you don't want them to know. If you want to send them on a false trail, or anything else, don't tell them straight out. Drop a hint, and see who gets it- they're the ones to watch yourself around. The press like to hunt for information, not have it handed to them on a silver platter." Sebastian let out a loud sigh- "I think that's it... No wait, the reporter at the very back, Mrs Danno, she is about as close to totally evil as it possible to get in the media- which is pretty darn close. Her late husband was an actor who was always second to your father Piper; she will be out to get you, as she knows he's out of her reach. All I can say is... good luck."

Piper winced and muttered under her breath, "It's not enough that monsters are after me cus of mum? Now reporters are after me cus of dad. I think I'd rather take the monster".

Jason grinned at her, having heard the statement, but Sebastian was already walking towards the other two as the door opened for them to go and sit down. She and Jason were going in last. Well, he was going in last, she was second last. She assumed it was where they were sitting that lead to the order. It was Troy, then Sebastian, then her dad, then her, then Jason. She put on a small smile as she entered; she wanted people to think she was nice after all... However fruitless that might be with Mrs Danno in the audience.

Apparently each reporter put up a hand to ask a question, and Sebastian would pick who would ask, and they could direct their questions at any of the actors. Piper was very glad it wasn't going on telly live. Although, being a press conference with Tristan Mclean, it had to be on telly somehow. Sebastian had decided that it would be too big a shock for Jason. In fact Piper had overheard Sebastian and Mr Martina arguing about it- she was very glad Sebastian won. It would have been worse on her than Jason- she really didn't like the spotlight. It had been hard at the beginning to even talk to the rest of the seven without getting embarrassed- live on the TV might be a bit too hard on her.

Piper sat up straighter and looked over at the reporters as the hands started going up. She took a deep breath, as Sebastian pointed to a guy on the second row. "Ok, this one's for Mr Mclean, You've said you're retiring from acting. Is this permanent, or just for a while?"

Piper watched as her dad leant forward, an easygoing smile on his face. "Well, I'm not exactly sure if I'm going to come back, but the break is for at least five years."

He smile again and leant back, looking relaxed, Piper wished she could do the same. It was one of the few moments in her life she wished she could be more like her dad- which was actually rather sad, that she'd admired him so little...

"Miss McLean, we've already heard of your friend Leo; is there any creditability to the rumour that he is your secret boyfriend?"

Piper knew the importance of keeping a mask in public, she was always acting anyway, to her dad, and anyone who wasn't a demigod, or wasn't Rachel, or just didn't know the truth about the world- so she had almost got rid of the emotion of shock- being a demigod tended to do that to you. But this was the exception to that rule; she couldn't help but feel shock at that question, although she hoped she had hidden most of it from the audience. That was one rumour she didn't want spreading- although Leo would probably just find it funny.

"Leo? No, he's just a really good friend, like a brother. Me and him together would be really weird... No he is defiantly not my boyfriend."

Piper saw Mrs Danno in the audience make a note on her pad- what on earth had she got against Piper from that sentence?

The next person Sebastian picked had a question for Jason. "Mr Grace, you're past seems to be all over the place- if you wouldn't mind, would you explain how you got into acting."

Jason smiled "Sure, basically, I lived with my dad and stepmom till last year, I always liked acting, and it seemed like an escape for me, as my stepmom well... Let's say I wasn't exactly her favourite person, so it was nice to pretend I was someone else. It made all my problems go away for a bit, and I started to love it. When I left home last year I got an acting role in a mini film, and I was told about these auditions, so I went along, and here I am."

Piper internally laughed, a mini film that had been made last week at camp, when Leo in a rare (very very rare) moment of foresight decided that Jason would be needing a back-story for the auditions, and organised a half hour film with Jason as the main character- then posted it online. It was actually pretty cool how many kids at camp were good at acting. It must have been the whole pretending to be someone you're not that half-bloods have going for them the majority of the year.

Immediately a load more hands shot up. Sebastian picked one on the third row "What was the name of this mini film, may I ask?"

Jason grinned. It's called _To the Death_, it's... well, for a small film we had quite a lot of money to blow, so that where I learnt how to swing a sword decently. I'm pretty sure that it was put on YouTube."

Piper could see most of the reporters noting this down, and since she hadn't actually seen the film- because it only been finished and uploaded yesterday, though Leo had paid Sam, a son of Hermes, to hack YouTube and change it so it said that the film had been uploaded a month ago. She didn't even know the plot so the film was as much of a surprise to her as anyone else- and she was so watching it when she got home; and after she had been totally interrogated by her well meaning siblings, (or not so well meaning in Drew's case.)

Another hand went up- and a chill went down Piper back, in the moment that Mrs Danno had raised her hand, she had briefly caught Piper's eye, and the amount of hate in them could have rivalled Octavian, may he rest in many many pieces.

"Mr Grace, if you would be so kind, do you have any moral issues with kissing a girl who has a boyfriend?"

**See you soon *grins and leaves before you shoot me for the cliffhanger* **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey guys: I'm sorry it's so short, But I promise the next chapter will be up in a week- no long pause like I've had for awhile. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting and hope you all haven't got bored of this story in my absence. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognise something- I don't own it. **

Chapter 8 A Plot is Hatched.

Piper had been expecting a question from Mrs Danno, after all she did hate Piper (thanks for that dad), and Piper thought that Danno would want to discredit her- she hadn't been expecting her to ask Jason a question. It made Piper think, why would she be asking Jason questions if she wanted to get everyone to hate Piper?

Not that Piper was bigheaded- I mean of course the world didn't revolve around her, and Mrs Danno didn't have to ask every question with the intention of turning people against Piper, but she had seen the look of hatred in Danno's eyes when she looked at Piper, and that sort of hated normally lead to a singular desire to get rid of the thing that the person in question hated. As Piper was that thing- she was understandably on guard.

So what would asking Jason that do? If he said no- it would be Jason who would get the fallout, if he said yes, again no effect on Piper, so what was the motive?

Jason looked over at Piper, and the look in his eyes made her relax- it was his _I've got this, just trust me I'll explain later _look. It spoke a lot about their lives that he had perfected that look- while being demi-gods with ADHD of various intensities (Leo being a case in point) who fought monsters of various intelligences (fortunately most were idiots), most demigods knew that look and could give their own version of it.

This whole event having taken place inside of a second, no-one in the audience were wondering why Jason was taking so long, as he responded to the question with an answer that had all of the reporters scribbling on their notepads. "I'm sure Piper's boyfriend knows she's going to be acting, so will know that it's likely she'll have to kiss an actor, if she's cool with it, and he's cool with it then sure I've no problem with it. Besides if I said yes to that, I'm fairly certain that my girlfriend would call me hypocritical."

The whole audience seemed to give a gasp, and almost everyone put their hands up in the air, Piper could see Sebastian give a slight wince on her right, and she couldn't blame him, she was certain that this was going to backfire on Jason, but she reckoned that when he explained it to her later it would make more sense than it made at the minute.

Sebastian picked another hand, making sure it was one of those that had been up before Jason's bombshell, and their question was actually not to either Jason or Piper. "Mr Richards..." A clatter came from the seat on the far right, as Troy slipped on his chair and made a great show of rubbing his eyes, "A question for me? At last, I was afraid my glorious fame had been eclipsed by the two newbie's!"

This got a polite chuckle from the audience, and Sebastian rolled his eyes and muttered, "He thinks' he's a comedian."

Piper smiled at that- she couldn't help but like Troy, and her grin only widened when her dad leant in to whisper to her. "Who does he think he is? I like 'invented' him". Piper spluttered on the sip of water she had just taken, she was very glad she had go used to being quiet at the various boarding schools she had been to before camp- she didn't think anyone had noticed her splutter, but how could she help it when her dad was whispering mean girl quotes in her ear?

"Mr Richards, is this going to be your last film as well?"  
"No, just Tristan's. You see old people retire; however, since I'm still in my prime, I'm happy to say I will be around a lot longer. So don't panic folks, you may be losing the second greatest actor of this age, but the best will still be around."

Piper laughed along with the audience, and the press conference continued from there- there were no more questions from Mrs Danno- although there were a few asking about Jason's girlfriend, he managed to answer them no problem. Piper noticed that all the answers he gave applied to her- could he possibly be doing what she thought he was...

Piper risked a glance toward Mrs Danno- who looked entirely too happy to Piper. She was eying Piper the same was Khione used too. Only Mrs Danno had a load more evil in her eyes. While Khione only wanted to get rid of Piper, Danno wanted to crush her. In fact... That was her game. Piper almost smiled, Mrs Danno was rumoured to be an expert in destroying relationships. So wouldn't it thrill her to be the cause of Piper and her boyfriend splitting up; even better if she could make it look like she was cheating on him with Jason. Only problem was, since Jason was really her boyfriend; that wouldn't really work.

Now Piper didn't enjoy manipulating people. In fact she refused to use charm speak unless she absolutely had too, she didn't want to end up like Drew after all. But Mrs Danno had decided to ruin her life just for being her dad's daughter. She got that enough from her mom's side thanks, but in this case she was willing to make an exception.

By the time Piper had finished her train of thought, the last question had been answered (for her dad)-and the five of them were leaving the room. Piper stumbled over a lead right before the door, and Jason caught her with a smile. She glanced back at Mrs Danno, who had seen the trip, though she seemed to be the only one who had. There was a little smirk on her face as she instructed her camera-man to pack up and left. Piper matched the smirk- oh she didn't have a clue who she was messing with; and Piper would take great delight in showing her why it wasn't a good idea to hold a grudge- especially while dealing with a daughter of Aphrodite.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in ages, I'll get better I promise, but since I'm back you guys need another chapter right **

**Disclaimer: Nothing you see is mine, apart from Sebastian who is actually based of a crush of mine, and he'll never know HAHAHA**

**On with the story!**

Chapter 9: A Boyfriend's Reasoning.

Although Piper wanted to ask Jason what he was doing as soon as the conference let out, she was unable too, as Sebastian took him to the side immediately. Piper couldn't hear what they were saying, but she noticed that Sebastian looked very worried and Jason calmed him down. Piper went over to her dad, and sat next to him on the chairs behind the press conference room, where the reporters were still filtering out.

"Hey dad. Do you think that I'll be any good at acting- I mean really?" This had been bothering Piper since the evening she had agreed to it. It was fair enough to assume that as her dad; and mom actually were brilliant at acting, that she'd have some talent- but enough to pull of the main character in a massive new film? Besides, it wasn't just her and Jason on the line; if it was she wouldn't really care, so what if they flunked, they could just go live at camp. But Sebastian would lose his entire career, and he was such a nice guy. Not to mention the other actors in the movie.

"Pipes, I didn't just agree with it because I wanted to be in a film with you, although that was a large part in the reasoning. I know you can do this. All those times you were mad at me for not listening to you, and I saw your mask go back up. There's a name for that in acting. It's called the private mask. Separating your personality from the image of you that you show people. My actions forced you to practice it from such a young age..." Piper looked up in surprise at that; she could see sadness and a whole load of shame on her dad's face. "I'm sorry Pipes- I... I guess I was just so upset about your mom I threw myself into acting and forgot I had a daughter most of the time... I'm Sorry..." Piper felt tears slipping down her cheeks. How long had she wished that her dad would notice her properly? That he would apologize for never being there? It didn't make up for it, but it definitely helped. She threw herself into her dad's arms and gave him a massive hug.

He hugged her back, then lifted up her chin and wiped away her tears with the sleeve of his shirt. "My little girl's all grown up, and I should've been there." Piper gave him a small smile, and sniffed. She looked over at Jason and he gave her a smile, noticed her face and frowned. Piper slipped into the seat by her dad, and wiped away the last tears as Jason and Sebastian made their way over. She sat up straighter and smiled; it looked like all her sadness rolled away- and suddenly she was Miss happy again.

"Private mask- see." Piper smile faltered, was she really that good at it? She didn't want to make herself paranoid but... No. Jason knew her, so did Leo and the rest of the seven. It didn't matter if she was good at hiding her emotions, they could still tell about the ones that mattered. She didn't want to be that good at hiding.

Sebastian sat down in the seat the other side of Tristan, and Jason dragged one seat around in front of them. Piper looked around. "Where did Troy go?"

"Went home, he had an appointment with something or other" Sebastian responded. "Now Jason said he'd explain about the girlfriend thing, if you wanted to know."

Jason looked at Piper. During the war she had gotten quite good at reading his face, and it seemed he wanted to tell Sebastian about them being a couple. Wait... he wanted to tell Sebastian? Piper wasn't sure that was the best thing to do, but...Well he was a producer- he was good at keeping secrets from the fans and media- he could probably keep it from Mrs. Danno. Piper gave a small nod, not totally sure, but hey, being in a relationship meant that you trusted the other person even when you thought they might be wrong. Besides even if he couldn't keep it secret it didn't matter that much.

Jason grinned at the three of them. "First of all, it wasn't a lie, I do have a girlfriend. I noticed Mrs. Danno earlier, glaring at Piper. Now I didn't think it was particularly nice of her to hate someone who never did anything to her...So I laid a false chase. My girlfriend..." He took Piper's hand in his own. "Just so happens to be in the film with me. So, I don't have any problem at all with kissing her."

Sebastian's mouth dropped, "You and Piper. Well I never would have guessed- you seemed like you were just meeting for the first time, and you played that part so well." Sebastian looked so gleeful at the thought "brilliant acting- I can't wait to start filming". His face dropped into confusion, "But why did you want to lay a false trail, you're going to get loads of media on your trail, what..."

"I don't like it when people look at my girlfriend like that. If she's going to be that cruel, well she needs taking down a few pegs. Besides we can drag it out, and when she splashes it over the media that we're cheating on our respective others, we can reveal we are actually together."

Piper frowned. "But surely she'll hate me more if we do that."

Sebastian butted in "Her reputation will be in tatters. She's very good at getting the truth, though she puts a horrible spin on a lot of it. I she gets something that wrong, despite the media knowing it was a trick on her; she'll still lose respect because such a good reporter as her should be able to figure out that it was a trick."

Piper's dad joined the conversation. "Besides, quite a few people know she has a problem with me, so they'll think she's just making up things for revenge and that won't sit well with a lot of people. It's fine to get revenge so long as it's the truth."

"But then," Sebastian added, "the problem becomes that during the meantime, when Danno is dragging Piper's name through the mud, a lot of people are going to assume cruel things about her." He looked at Piper. Can you deal with your name being dirt on social media and in gossip magazines?"

Piper looked at Jason and her Dad. Mrs Danno had been after Tristan McLean for years, it was about time she stopped, and she and Jason were just the two to finish her. "Yeah, besides, if it gets too much we can always call it off at any point, so long as we agree."

Piper's dad and Sebastian nodded at each other and both got up to leave, having a quick chat by the door, after which Sebastian left and her Dad turned to beckon to Piper.

But before she could leave a thought struck Piper; she turned to Jason with an evil sort of smirk, that, had anyone thought to compare her to her mother, looked just like Aphrodite when she had just thought up the best way to annoy dear Artemis's hunters. "Jason, we said that Thalia ran away from home right? And you haven't seen her since?"

"Yes... Where's this going".

"Well, if we get Thalia to agree and Mrs Danno was to take a picture of you at a restaurant catching up with your sister, just the two of you, I wonder what conclusion she'd jump to?" Piper's smile widened "and how embarrassing it would be for the poor woman if it was to come out that you were siblings catching up..."

Jason grinned widely, "Piper you can be really evil sometimes."

Piper rose from her seat and turned to go, "Well, they do say love's cruel, I must be more like Mom than I thought".


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thank-you for your continued patience. The Next chapter is up. I hope you enjoy and credit is due to Random Chick's Pen for her idea which I've added to this story. Thank-you and Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: If you ****recognize****it I don't own it. All credit to Mr Rick Riordan **

Chapter 10: A Council of War

Piper and Jason left the studio separately, but that evening Jason Iris messaged her, and told her to message Camp-Half Blood. He already had messaged Camp Jupiter, and Piper could see Frank and Hazel through the mist. She quickly turned on the shower in her bathroom, and called, "O Fleecy, do me a solid, show me Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Leo Valdez, at Camp Half Blood". The image popped up, the traditional mist window split into three, each of her friends in their own segment. Since Fleecy was kind-of new to Iris messaging, she had added new features, as some of the more traditional users were upset with a newbie taking over Iris's job; despite the fact that Iris was totally O.K with it. So Fleecy had changed it so a message could go to more than one person. Which lead to loads more people willing to call via Fleecy instead of Iris.

Piper stood back from the mist, so that all the Greeks could see the Iris message to Jason, and the one behind him to Frank and Hazel, which immediately blended to a two part window, that stuck to the three part window so that Piper could see all six of her friends, in what looked like five TV screens, Hazel and Frank being in the same place. A box of mist appeared with the words in Greek,_ One minute conversations are one Drachma, five minutes costs four drachma and a special offer on ten minutes for seven Drachma. _Piper grinned and picked up the purse of drachma from Lacy, inserting seven drachma and sitting on the bed.

Piper smiled, "so I suppose all of you have heard about mine and Jason's new job?"

"Annabeth grinned, looking up from the blueprint she was sketching, "yes, I hope you have fun, seems you got something from your dad too. If you need any of us too pop along and dispose of any monsters that might pop up on set, we'll send Percy in." Piper was glad that Annabeth had said if she (and Jason) needed, it was great to know that her friends were willing to help them out, whilst at the same time acknowledging that they were warriors in their own right and didn't need to have a babysitter.

"Thanks for that Annabeth," Percy frowned "Because I'm not going to be busy with my baby sister..."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Percy, since when have you had any kind of sibling apart from Tyson, and your dad's immortal kids?" Jason's statement added to Frank's and Leo's, and Piper agreed with the sentiments, since when did Percy have a little sister. She looked at Annabeth screen, and saw her sitting with a grin on her face.

"You knew, didn't you?" Annabeth looked up.

"Sally told me when I went to visit her last week?"

"Wait, you visit my mom when I'm not there?"

"Someone's got to show me all the cute baby pictures; I like the one when you're in the aquarium talking to the seahorse- before you tried to break the tank."

"It's a prison Annabeth; someone's got to do something!"

The budding argument was interrupted by Hazel. "So Piper, Jason, why'd you call all of us? Percy you'd better prepare for being put through the wringer later. But for now, I get that you guys are in the film, and congratulations, but that doesn't really require all of us."

Jason dropped in, "yes, but this is a council of war. There's a reporter, one Mrs Danno, who has it in for Piper, because Pipers' dad's so famous, and her late husband was always coming second to him. The last straw being when he lost out to Mr Mclean at the Oscars. So, Piper and I had a plan about how to deal with her. Basically, we'll make it out like we each have a boyfriend or girlfriend that's not the other, and make sure Mrs Danno finds out, so when she's published her big article, we can explain we were always together."

Annabeth sat forward. "If you go through with that, your reputations will be in tatters before the grand reveal, are you sure it's a good idea?"

Piper knew that Annabeth knew what she was talking about, but that problem had already been raised by Sebastian. "Since Danno is out to discredit me, she's most likely going to play Jason as the good guy and me as the unreliable girl who's trying to break up his relationship. But, I've also said that I have a boyfriend, so I need a fake one. Hopefully I can find someone at camp."

Leo grinned. "I could pretend, but it'd be really awkward, and there is no way I'm kissing you, you're like a sister."

Jason shook his head. "Can't be you Leo, Piper said to the press earlier that Leo wasn't her boyfriend."

"Frank could do it". Everyone stopped and looked at Hazel, or where the monitor for Hazel was.

"Hazel, Frank's your boyfriend" Piper frowned. "Why would you suggest that?"

"Because it works, I may be from the 1940's but people back then were always pretending to go out with someone to make other people jealous, or to pretend that they had someone to dance with at Saturday dances. Besides if you're going to pretend to be a... a scarlet woman, you need to have a sweet innocent boyfriend you're betraying. Frank's perfect for that."

"Frank? What do you think about that?" Piper had to admit the idea had potential, and if Frank was playing the sweet innocent guy, then she would only have to kiss him on the cheek, which was great, because then she would be able to say he was only a friend when the story hit. Also, the fire at his gran's house and the death of his mom provided him with the perfect tragic back-story.

"I guess if Hazel's O.K with it? But what does that mean. What will I have to do?"

Piper smiled at the confused Canadian. "We'll have to meet up somewhere quite public- just us two. Jason's Birthday is soon, and we'll have a party at Camp-Half Blood, so if we pretend to meet up then, we'll hang out for a few hours then head to Camp Half Blood. Sorted?"

"Yeah, that's fine, we can Iris or rather Fleecy message closer to the time."

Jason nodded in his screen. "Thalia's agreed, so we'll do something the day after."

Percy frowned "Thalia agreed to what?"

Leo finally joined the conversation in his own special way. The boy may be a son of Hephaestus but sometimes he was purely Hermes. "Just because Zeus is your dad, doesn't mean you have to copy him. Incest is wrong Jason".

Percy did a double take. "Wait. What?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Tip Off.

"_So Leo, you up for being an actor too?"_

Now, Piper wasn't always the biggest fan of her mom, and some of the revenge plans Aphrodite had come up with in the past were just plain cruel. The revenge plan Aphrodite had for Artemis, making one of her hunters fall in love with a bear- that was just evil. However, sometimes her mom could be wickedly good- and this was one such case.

Aphrodite had popped in for one of her mother daughter chats, not really allowed, but Zeus had been surprisingly slack on the ancient laws since the whole Gaia thing. He was all like "let it not be thought that even gods can't make mistakes, it was our lack of attention to our children that lead to these wars, and so, though we won't be _disregarding_ the ancient laws, I guess we can slack them a little". Of course that whole speech Hera was standing behind him tapping her foot every time he paused, so it probably wasn't his idea, but hey.

_Anyway_, back to Aphrodite's plan, basically she had suggested that someone should sneakily meet up with Danno, and let loose the news and location of Piper and Franks 'date', and who better to play the 'I do really like her, but why does she get all the good luck it's totally not fair, I almost resent her' friend, than Leo?

So now, Piper was on the phone explaining the new part of the plan to Leo at eleven at night and hoping he would go along with it.

"_Now Beauty Queen, I was almost feeling left out, this will be great- I love playing tricks, and this is just a giant prank. You can so count the Leo-master in."_

_"Great, wonderful, only never call yourself the Leo-master again repair boy, it's actually disturbing."_

_"Then call me Iago"_

_"He betrays Othello, who considers him his best friend, and winds up in prison facing the death penalty..."_

_"...Call me Roderigo!"_

_"A lovesick pretty boy who ends up stabbed to death by Iago?"_

_"...Call me Cassio!"_

_"... He's actually alright, if a bit violent when drunk; so basically Othello is the only Shakespeare play you know?"_

_"I know Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth..."_

_"Back to the topic at hand... How are you going to find out where Danno is to speak with her?"_

_"Easy, just a bit of hacking of the government profiles on journalists, I've got Travis and Conner to help me out, apparently the 'gifts of Hermes' transfer to stealing internet secrets as well as smuggling soda into camp. Who knew?"_

_"Wait, you've got them- like there now, I just rung you, how did you get them that quickly?"_

_"We may have been planning a prank to turn Ares' cabin pink with love hearts..."_

_"Say no more, I want as much plausible deniability as possible. So what day are you meeting with Danno?"_

_"Thursday? That gives two days to plan and trail her before I spring my trap, Mwahahahahahahaha"_

_"I hear you Mwahahahahahahaha, and raise you a teeheheheh"_

_"I hear your teeheehehehehe, and raise you a yakyakyak..."_

Thursday

Leo had been kind enough to record his meeting with Danno- He wore a snapback with a camera attached, and an earpiece, the camera was connected to a laptop he'd given Piper, and the earpiece was connected to a microphone she had. Of course with Leo being Leo he was referring to her as Q and himself as Bond- just because he could. She had pointed out the irony of her being Q when he was the one who invented all the gadgets he was wearing. She should have expected the response. "Pipes, I know I'm brilliant enough to be Q, but Bond's just more awesome, and I feel like I have more Bond vibes than you."

"Repair boy; the only way you have more Bond vibes than me is your biology."

"..."

"Anyway, has Danno arrived?"

"Not yet, but I'm sitting opposite the door, so she'll see me walking in- knowing how nosy she is, she'll recognise me immediately, and try and get dirt on you".

Piper grinned, and looked back to the laptop, where she could see the door to the cafe; she couldn't wait till Danno walked in...

"Leo, are you sure this is the right cafe? Like we've been here ages. I'm going to get some chocolate, have fun."

"Pipes, that's not fair, I don't have any chocolate- Piper you can't each chocolate in front of me, Pipeeeeeeeeeeeeer."

"Off to get Chocolate Leo- bye!"

Piper grinned at the microphone as she left the room to search the kitchen- she hadn't taken the earpiece off, so she could still hear what went on between Leo and Danno is she showed up. She had just reached the kitchen when Leo's complaining went quiet.

"Pipes can you hear me? Danno just came in, Pipes?"

"Yep", Piper almost face palmed, the microphone was still in her room. Leo's technology might be good, but it couldn't pick up her voice through two stories and a load of walls. She was about to run upstairs again, when she figured that Danno would be more likely to listen to him if he didn't constantly look like he was talking to himself. Piper kept listening to the conversation anyway- she could ask Leo about it once Danno had gone. She found a bar of Hershey's, and sat down at the table to listen. Since she had left the laptop in her room as well, all she had was audio.

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" Apparently Danno had recognized Leo, and had come to talk with him- she wondered how quickly the conversation would swing round to herself."

"What's a young man like you doing in a coffee shop by himself?"

Piper could image Leo giving Danno one of him manic grins, "Ah, I was going to meet with Pipes, she's a friend, but she's a bit busy."

"She stood you up!"

"Not like that, I mean yeah, she didn't come, but it wasn't a date or anything- she's more of a sister, and she's already got a boyfriend."

"Oh I see, well perhaps she's meeting him?"

That wasn't subtle at all; thought Piper; just get the topic round onto my 'boyfriend'. Leo better make sure he spins a good story of how Frank and I met...

"Yeah maybe- they've been going out a while, ever since Frank had his accident. I've made you more curious haven't I?"

"What accident?"

"Well, he hit his head, and had some memory loss, they got together when he was still recovering, Pipes would go sit with him in hospital, and it developed from there."

Piper could almost hear Danno's brain working, spewing out headlines "Sneaky first time actor seduced injured man" or "Couldn't even wait till he was out of the hospital."

Leo continued with his story "They're actually going for a meal next Friday- Pipers quite well of, so she's booked a meal at that new Anthony Bourdain place, and she and Frank are going there next Friday, at lunch, then we're all going to a friend's party."

"Oh, that's interesting..."Piper wondered if Danno would stop there, or try and get Leo to reveal more, he was weaving the story very well, but Leo was always pretty good at lying- to himself as much as everyone else, it kind of came with the perpetual joker thing.

"Besides, she never really has time to hang out with me anymore, sometimes makes me annoyed you know- perfect Piper, rich Piper, I liked you when you were useful to me Leo- Piper. Like, don't get the wrong idea, she's great, but sometimes having a friend that great makes you feel terrible you know". Leo's voice went wistful, and she heard him getting up from his seat. "So, Mrs Danno right? See you around I guess".

"Goodbye Leo, nice to talk to you."

Piper slowly sat down, well that happened, did Leo mean that, or was he just making it up- would he have said that if he knew she was still listening? It was a good way to make Danno trust him though- making her think she could manipulate him like that, Piper hoped that was all it was.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: OK so its been a while and the chapter is sort of a filler chapter, because I had too revise some of the story. I'm sorry but hey, at least it's something**

**Disclaimer: if you recognize it I don't own it. **

Chapter 12: Let's revise that plan

Piper didn't really have much to do for the next couple of weeks. Filming didn't actually start until every role was filled, and as the minor character's roles were still being filled, Piper had quite a lot of free time. She spent a lot of time on the phone to Jason, or Annabeth, or Hazel... On the Wednesday before the fake date, she phoned Frank to do over the details. The morning of the fake date she iris messaged the Aphrodite cabin and told them about the issue.

"Guys, hey, this is going to sound a little odd. Basically there's a reporter who hates my dad- like a lot. But since my dad is pretty much untouchable, she's trying to ruin me. Now I didn't really want to be in this movie, but I am so not letting her ruin my rep."

"Piper honey, your rep is already so ruined I don't think she could. Stealing a car ringing any bells?"

Piper grimaced, ok that was a point, but that had been a year ago, and she hadn't publically done anything stupid since, so she could just play that off as a sad child whose dad was never home trying to get attention. Play the; I'm grown up now card, look at all these stupid things I did when I was a child. Besides she wouldn't steal a car now unless it was for a quest.

"Point taken Drew, thanks for that input. Basically Frank, you guys know Frank right? Well we were going to pretend he was my boyfriend- then I'd be seen in public kissing Jason, Danno would alert the media, and then we'd reveal the truth. She'll be discredited, a happy ending for everyone."

Mitchell frowned. "Look Piper, it's a good plan in theory, and it probably would discredit Danno at the end- but it would make you look ridiculously vindictive. Like, who does this upstart think she is, discrediting a famous reporter, by deliberately feeding her false info? That makes you and Jason look really bad."

Lacy spoke up too. "Right, and Pipes, could you and Frank keep up the fake boyfriend/ girlfriend thing for as long as you'd need too? Because at some point you'll have to act like a proper couple. Not just kisses on the cheek, but proper snogs, and that's going to make both of you, and Jason and Hazel very uncomfortable. I get you want to take this reporter down, but perhaps you could do it a different way."

Drew spoke up again. "You should just meet up with loads of boys from camp, and be yourself. If this reporter is as vindictive as you say, she'll make up a story about you being promiscuous, oh and look at her array of boy toys, all criminals of some sort. That would make her look really bad when you revealed you were dating Jason."

Piper's brain went back. Was Drew actually helping her? Sure they were sisters, and in the war they had each other's back for a while, but now things were back to normal she thought Drew would go back to being indifferent at best and hostile at worst.

"No need to look so shocked. Aphrodite is a master at revenge, and as her daughter I inherited that. You may be a dumpster queen, but you're still a sibling, and no-one pulls one over on my family without me ruining them later."

"So your plan is, I meet with Frank, and then kiss him on the cheek, next week rinse and repeat with another boy from camp?...But that won't work! Leo already told Danno that Frank and I were dating. If we change that story now, then Danno won't believe Leo if he tells her anything else!"

"So have Hazel turn up and say she's his girlfriend. Danno will take it as you seducing a poor innocent boy away from his girlfriend. Next week you meet up innocently with... Let's go Malcolm; we'll get him on board somehow. I think he's at Harvard now; we'll get you to take him something from camp- get Danno to see it, and suddenly- 'she's moved on what a vulture' will be all over the papers."

Piper grinned. The idea made a lot of sense. She'd basically be meeting up with friends, and Danno would take it all the wrong way. "So when it's eventually revealed that Jason and I are dating, she'll... But revealing Jason and I are dating won't stop it- people will just think I'm cheating on him."

Mitchell frowned. "You really need another reporter on your side. I don't suppose you know anyone?"

Piper thought back, did her Dad know anyone that might come in handy, surely he had too know some reporters after spending so much time in the media. There was that... Perfect.

"I think perhaps I might. I need to call Hazel about the whole fake date thing. Call you guys back later. Or better yet, look at the magazines next week."

Piper got an idea. An awful idea. She got a wonderful, awful idea. She was also apparently quoting the Grinch in her thought processes. If she had a reporter on her side, who could print the truth about her little outings. A reporter who hated Danno. Well- suddenly pulling this off seemed a lot easier.

After all there was a reason that Tristan Mclean wasn't famous for his daughter stealing a car, and it wasn't that Danno was ill that week.


End file.
